By the time Carmen, reporters in tow, smiled at me from behind the counter of the welcome center most of the lingering unhappiness that had plagued my arrival was gone. Instead, her smile and the growing enthusiasm of Aiden and Jared fed my own grin as I stepped up, the first paying guest of Zip It!

"ID, please," she said. "We need a scan for insurance purposes."

I gaped at her. "You're kidding." I'd naturally left it in the car. But after all this, surely ...